~Everything's Not What It Seems~
Alex and Justin are siblings sent to Hogwarts to learn about magic just like their father. There they meet new friends, fall in love, and find out that truly everything is not what it seems.
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling and Disney Channel own the right to all these character. I am only borrowing them :)
That Morning Alex woke up to insistent knocking on her bedroom door. She groaned as she grabbed her pillow from under her head and threw it over her head in the hopes of drowning out the noise. It was Saturday, and all Alex wanted was to enjoy one Saturday sleeping in her bed until she felt fully rested. Was that too much to ask for?
She relaxed as the knocking ceased and she let herself slowly drift back to sleep. As she felt herself slipping back into sleep, she suddenly felt the cool air of her room hitting her body due the loss of her comforter. Alex sat up quickly, letting her eyes adjust to the light in the room, blinking a few times before the figure that was standing before her became clear. Justin. She opened her mouth to start another argument with her brother but was quickly interrupted.
"Alex, wake up, dad needs us!" Justin said in a panic. He was already folding her comforter, ignoring the look of anger on his sister's face. He placed her comforter on the floor before grabbing her robe off her dresser and handing it to her.
Alex really took a look at her brother and realized he looked like he also had only just got out of bed. His hair was a mess and he was still dressed in his plaid blue pajama bottoms and a white tee. "Why are you still in your pajamas? Shouldn't you already be dressed for work?"
Justin crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "I don't have time for this right now Alex. Do you have any idea what time it is? It's 11:30AM! We both majorly overslept! We should have been down in the substation hours ago!"
Alex quickly pulled on the robe Justin had handed her and hop off the bed. She followed her frazzled brother out of the room as he began to talk to himself in panic. "How did you even oversleep? I thought you had like ten alarms set every morning?"
Justin stopped, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation before turning to his sister. "I have no idea! Someone must have turned off my alarms! I only just woke up a little while before you, I ran downstairs to check on the sub station and saw it was closed!"
"Closed? If the sub station is closed, where are we going right now? And it's Saturday, we're never closed on a Saturday." Alex looked at her brother in confusion.
"I don't know Alex. Last night when I talked to dad, he didn't mentioned anything about this. All I know is, I woke up and found the substation closed, no one in sight. When I came back up to the apartment, I texted dad and he instructed me to get you and meet them in the lair." Justin turned back around and began to make his way towards the sub station again. "Alex, please tell me there is no chance you had something to do with this."
"Oh come on, Justin! You know I don't involve myself in pranks that require me to lose sleep. You woke me up this morning, so clearly this has nothing to do with me."
Justin briefly turned to his sister, narrowing his eyes. "It better not."
Alex rolled her eyes as Justin continued down the spiral steps to the sub station. She followed after him, nodding as she looked around the sub station to see it truly was closed. "Hmm, so it's true."
"Of course it is!" Justin shook his head as they reached the entrance to the lair, he pulled the door open and motioned her forward, watching her with suspicion as she walked past him. "I'm watching you."
"Kids! Good morning!" Jerry Russo smiled as he watched his oldest son and daughter enter the lair. The two smiled at their dad as they joined their younger brother Max, who was already in the room, playing with a crystal ball. Their mother stood beside Jerry, her hands clasped together as she watched her children.
"Now that you're all here, I'm sure you are confused about the closure of the sub station today and my calling you three to the lair."
"Actually..." Max interrupted. "I figured the sub station would eventually go out of business so that's why we're here. It's okay dad, I've been preparing for this day my whole life."
Jerry looked at his son, a look of both confusion and disappointment on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but though better of it. Shaking his head before turning his attention to Justin and Alex.
"Anywho...your mother and I have been thinking about your education and your future in the wizard world. After much discussion we have come to a decision that would be in all of your best interest. You know that I enjoy teaching you three magic and I think you're getting a great amount of knowledge from Wiztech every summer, but I feel like it is just not enough. I know I shouldn't have hidden this from you guys but, I just didn't think it was the right time. Now I think you guys are ready." Jerry looked to his wife, who nodded towards him in encouragement.
"And what exactly are we ready for?" Justin asked, looking at Jerry and Theresa in confusion.
Theresa took a step forward, taking Justin and Alex's hands in her own. "Alex, Justin, your father has told you a lot about Hogwarts, right?"
Alex and Justin looked at each other briefly before turning back to Theresa and nodding.
"What's Hogwarts?" Max asked. "And why have Justin and Alex heard of it, but I have not?"
Jerry cleared his throat, joining his wife in front of their kids. "Hogwarts is a school for wizards in Scotland. When Alex and Justin turned eleven, they each received an invitation to attend. We chose to deny this invitation because we didn't want to separate you kids from each other. Normally when a wizard is enrolled in a school like Hogwarts, they attend from the age of 11 when they receive their invitation until they are 17 or 18 years old. Hogwarts is one of the best wizarding academies to exist."
"So, did I receive an invitation this year too then?" Max asked, looking between his parent. Jerry and Theresa looked at each other nervously. "No you didn't Max... but we talked to the headmaster and told them we would enroll all of you together for the upcoming school year."
"Wait... you mean, we're going to Hogwarts?" Alex looked from her big brother to her father in disbelief. "Like we will actually be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Alex smiled, reaching for her brother's hand in the hopes of slightly containing her excitement.
"You will Alex. You all will." Jerry smiled, seeing the excitement flashing in the eyes of his eldest son and daughter.
"But I don't get it, why didn't I get an invitation? I just turned eleven." Max looked at his parents expectantly.
Jerry gulped turning to Alex with a desperate look.
Alex shook her head, smiling at her little brother. "Because Max, after getting two rejections from the Russo family, your really think Hogwarts is going to try and enlist another kid? They must have thought mom and dad would reject your invitation too."
Alex watched her brother as he considered this for some time. The seconds went by like minutes before he finally looked at his parents and siblings with a smile. "That makes sense!"
Alex looked to Justin, her mom, and and dad in relief, seeing their expression mirrored hers. She smiled to herself. And Justin said her lying powers could not be used for good.
"Not that I'm not excited for this, but why now? Why are we being enrolled to Hogwarts now?" Justin asked. Speaking up for the first time since Jerry made the announcement.
"You see, things are... changing in the wizarding world. It's not safe anymore for you two- I mean three, to be out in the open. Hogwarts is a very good school and it's very safe. Your mother and I felt assured that we wouldn't need to worry for your three if we sent you there. Of course, it will be hard to not have you guys here with us, but we know this is what's best for all of you. And we'll see you again soon, when the summer is over. Since you'll be in wizarding school all year, we will no longer be sending you to Wiztech for the summer."
Jerry forced an even smiled, nodding to the kids and his wife. Alex looked at her brother, seeing the doubt in his eyes as well.
"Dad, I think I can speak for Alex and myself for the very least, that we are please to be going to Hogwarts. But are you sure we should be so close to-"
"Yes!" Jerry quickly said. Interrupting his son. "I'm sure this is the best thing. Justin, I need you three to trust me when I say, this is what's best for all of you. Anyway, you three should go get packing now."
Jerry shoo'd them away, pushing the kids towards the exit of the lair. I expect you to be packed by the end of today. You leave for Hogwarts on Monday!" He waveD at them quickly before shutting the door.
"That was weird." Max said as the three made their way towards the sub station.
"Nothing weird, dad just wants the best for us." Justin shrugged as he made his way to the spiral stairs.
Alex began to follow her but not before hearing Max mutter under his breath. "But why do we need to be safe all of a sudden?" She wasn't sure, but she was wondering the same things.
~~~~~
Later that day, Alex was lounging on Justin's bed as she stared at the ceiling, bobbing her head to the music playing off her phone. Justin was kneeled on the floor, neatly folding and stacking his winter sweaters into one of the two suitcases laying open on the floor of his bedroom.
After their father's announcement, Alex grabbed herself a bag of chips before heading back to her bedroom so she could call Harper to tell her about their father's announcement. Harper was less than thrilled when she heard about this and the two ended up getting into a big fight. Too depressed to start packing, Alex made her way to her brother's room to check on his progress.
"I just don't understand Justin, dad told us he would never send us to Hogwarts. He said that we would never be accepted and it wouldn't be safe. His exact words were "the farther you are from Hogwarts, the better."
Alex rolled over on her stomach, resting her chin on her hands. Justin stopped his packing to look back at his sister.
"I don't know Alex. Honestly, I've been wondering the same. I feel like they're hiding something from us. I just don't know what." Justin sighed, looking down at his suitcase then back at Alex with a smile. "But to be frank with you Alex, I don't care what the reason is. You and I have been dreaming about seeing Hogwarts our entire lives. We'll actually get to walk the halls and see the places where the stories we've been hearing since we were born actually took place!"
Alex smiled, her brother's excitement finally reaching her. She hadn't considered this up to this point, but he was right. They were going to see Hogwarts. She couldn't deny she had been dreaming of this for years. "Justin, you really think it's going to be just like we imagined?" She looked at her brother with excitement.
"I think it'll be better than we imagined." Justin smiled wider as he began to fold his sweaters again.
Alex noticed his folding turned a bit sloppy as he began to rush his packing. She laughed as she rolled off his bed and made her way towards him.
"What?"
"Justin, we're wizards! And soon we will be going to a wizarding school! Don't you think it would be easier if you just pack your things with magic rather than by hand?"
Justin considered this for a moment then nodded towards his sister. "You know what Alex, for once, I have to agree with you. I'm so excited about all this that I actually want to use magic to pack!"
Alex watched as Justin pulled out his wand and muttered a spell under his breath. His closet opened and clothes began to float towards his suitcase, automatically folding into a neat pile just as Justin had been doing only moments ago. Justin made his way to his bed, his sister following as they both sat down and watched the magic do it's works.
"Justin, I'm kinda worried."
Justin looked at his sister sympathetically. "I know, I am too. It will be hard but we'll get through this. The only thing we need to remember is that if it wasn't for that school, we wouldn't be here today. It's where it all started."
"Yeah, you're right. That is where it all started."
"Anyway, don't worry about all this now. How far are you along on your packing?" Justin looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow.
Alex smirked, pulling her wand out from the pocket in her dress and quickly muttering the same spell as her brother. "I just started!"
They both laughed but stopped as the door to Justin's room flew open. Max came in with a wide smile, looking at his older siblings expectantly. Alex and Justin nodded towards their brother in greeting.
"Max, you wanna join us?" Justin asked.
Max nodded, jumping onto the bed, almost knocking Justin and Alex over. They laughed as they pushed him over slightly. "Looks like you guys are getting ready for this Hogwarts thing. So, uhhh.. I was wondering, why haven't I ever heard about Hogwarts and you two have?"
Justin and Alex looked at each other, knowing that this question would eventually come from their little brother. They hated lying to him, but they had no other choice. And being that Justin was a terrible liar, Alex knew that making up something would be up to her.
"It's because dad always told us love stories that took place in Hogwarts when we were little, you're not interested in that stuff…" Alex explained quickly.
Max considered this and nodded. "Yeah, you're right! I mean I'm a guy and I don't like the sappy chick-flick-type stories, you're a girl so like that stuff. And Justin… well he's Justin."
"Hey!" Max and Alex both looked at the offended expression on Justin's face before bursting into laughter. Justin looked at them in annoyance which only made the two laugh harder.
Justin annoyance quickly turned to amusement. He smiled as he watched his siblings, seeing the excitement in them for the new adventure to come. He caught Alex'a eye for a moment and the two smiled each other. And they both knew, as long as the Russo siblings were together, they'd be okay.
Updated this chapter too!
